Kdenlive is an open source video maker

Kdenlive  Open Source Video Editing Software

MLT Framework Based Cross Platform Open Source Video Trimmer

A configurable interface and keyboard shortcuts make the Kdenlive video editor an adaptable software. This open source video editing tool is built on Qt and KDE.

Overview

Kdenlive is a free and open source video maker. It is a powerful tool for video editing and audio capturing. Firstly, this free tool is built on top of Qt and the KDE libraries. Secondly, it provides a configurable user interface and users can customize the interface according to their workflows. Thirdly, there are configurable keyboard shortcuts for the users. Moreover, this open source online video editor offers corporate video editing capabilities like multi-track video editing in which users can manage several video/audio tracks. Further, FFmpeg libraries provide support for Kdenlive due to which it can process almost all widely used video/audio formats.

In fact, this video editing solution enables you to create a 2D title for projects that includes aligning, letter and line spacing, zoom, rotate, and template support. There are many effects and transition options available in Kdenlive such as color correction and audio adjustment. In addition to that, you can check the audio level or color scopes to keep the balance with the help of an audiometer, histogram, waveform, and vectorscope. Above all, this open source professional video editing software also keeps the backup of your project files and project versions are also available to the users.

Kdenlive also offers timeline preview options where users can preview the changes. However, this free open source video maker is written in C++ with documentation available regarding development and deployment.

System Requirements

Requirements to set up Kdenlive include:

  • Ubuntu/Linux
  • Qt >= 5.7
  • KF5 >= 5.50
  • MLT >= 6.20.0
  • cmake
  • Git

Features

Kdenlive offers the following key features:

  • Multi-Track Video Editing
  • Automatic Backup
  • Project Versioning
  • Support For Audio/Video Formats
  • Configurable Interface
  • Configurable Shortcuts
  • 2D Titles
  • Effects and Transitions

Installation Instructions

For Ubuntu, run the following commands to pull all the dependencies:

    sudo apt install libkf5archive-dev libkf5bookmarks-dev libkf5coreaddons-dev libkf5config-dev \
    libkf5configwidgets-dev libkf5dbusaddons-dev libkf5kio-dev libkf5widgetsaddons-dev \
    libkf5notifyconfig-dev libkf5newstuff-dev libkf5xmlgui-dev libkf5declarative-dev \
    libkf5notifications-dev libkf5guiaddons-dev libkf5textwidgets-dev libkf5purpose-dev \
    libkf5iconthemes-dev kdoctools-dev libkf5crash-dev libkf5filemetadata-dev  kio \
    kinit qtdeclarative5-dev libqt5svg5-dev qml-module-qtquick-controls \
    qtmultimedia5-dev qtquickcontrols2-5-dev breeze-icon-theme

    sudo apt install libmlt++-dev libmlt-dev melt frei0r-plugins ffmpeg

    sudo apt install ruby subversion gnupg2 gettext 

Now, run the following command to clone the source code of the Kdenlive:

    git clone https://invent.kde.org/multimedia/kdenlive

Then , checkout to the master branch:

    cd kdenlive
    git checkout master

After that, create a directory for the build inside the kdenlive directory:

    mkdir build
    cd build

Moreover, It is easier to install Kdenlive in /usr to avoid problems with plugins and libraries:

    cmake .. -DKDE_INSTALL_USE_QT_SYS_PATHS=ON -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr -DRELEASE_BUILD=OFF

Run the following command to fetch the translations of the application :

    make fetch-translations

Above command will create a po sub-directory in your build directory. After that, run the following commands to create symbolic link to this po subdirectory :

    cd ..
    ln -s build/po/ po
    cd build/

In the last, install and build by running the following commands:

    make -j5
    sudo make install

Finally, start your compiled version:

    kdenlive

FAQs

How good is kdenlive?

Kdenlive is a popular open source video maker. Further, it offers multi-track video editing, configurable shortcuts, and many other powerful features.

Does kdenlive watermark?

Yes, you can add your watermark to your projects.

Is kdenlive good for beginners?

In fact, this open source video editing tool provides documentation regarding development, deployment and beginners can host it on local/cloud server.

Is kdenlive free?

Yes, this free open source video editor is free and based on the MLT Framework.

Is kdenlive professional?

Kdenlive is designed for professional video editors. Moreover, it offers high ranked features to fulfill the needs of video makers.

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